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If the Other Moms Jumped off a Bridge, I Would Too

I've recently decided I need a double jogging stroller. No, really! I now live within walking distance of a super popular running and biking trail, and I can just see my Selling The House weight melting off as I pound the pavement in my Lululemon running pants, my ponytail perfectly in place, shoes gleaming white, my shiny Bob Duallie gliding ahead of me. Can't you? I really love to sit on my couch eating chocolate chips and think about how glamorous I'd look, especially how awesome my butt would look in those pants.

I've recently decided I need a double jogging stroller. No, really! I now live within walking distance of a super popular running and biking trail, and I can just see my Selling The House weight melting off as I pound the pavement in my Lululemon running pants, my ponytail perfectly in place, shoes gleaming white, my shiny Bob Duallie gliding ahead of me. Can't you? I really love to sit on my couch eating chocolate chips and think about how glamorous I'd look, especially how awesome my butt would look in those pants.

I didn't look into single jogging strollers because I didn't jog. And then, when I inexplicably took up a jogging habit, I still didn't look at jogging strollers, because by that time I needed a DOUBLE stroller and do you know how much Bobs are going for? HOLY GRILLED CHEESE, people. I thought about Craigslist for all of ten seconds, but I've heard that secondhand double joggers get snapped up crazy quick and I just don't have the competitive edge required to snag one for myself. I mean, it's a JOGGING stroller. If I bought one I would sort of be required to USE it. And I'm sort of UNDECIDED on that subject. I can't work up enough energy for something so uncertain, sorry.

It wasn't until I wrote about this on my personal blog and read the subsequent gently-worded comments that I realized: HEY! Not ALL double jogging strollers are made of titanium and gold plated! Maybe I could afford one after all!

This was a stunning realization for me, Internet. I could buy a DIFFERENT KIND!

OBVS I am a bit of an idiot. And I'm not a brand snob, promise. I'm just a sheep, really, especially when it comes to products marketed to mothers.

I've never owned a fancy name-brand purse in my life, but when I was expecting Jack I was wholly and utterly obsessed with picking out the perfect designer diaper bag. Cloth diapers, bottles, carriers, and yes, my plain ole umbrella stroller -- I had to have and purchased the exact same types and brands as my friends, or the items the women in my moms group said they couldn't live without. I had to have the RIGHT things! I'm not going to surround my baby with the wrong stuff! Horrors!

Well, yeah, three years later things are a smidge different. Don't get me wrong, I still love my designer diaper bag and use it all the time, but the fancy crib, the stacks of barely-used infant carriers, the specialty baby shoes -- fun to have, obviously not necessary. I even have all these special snack cups for Cheerios and Pirate Booty (Oh! Pirate Booty! That's another one! THE BEST SNACK!) that were totally NOT better than just a random container or plastic bag. And yet, it still doesn't even occur to me that there are other double joggers out there besides The One Everyone Thinks You Should Have. (And by 'Everyone' I'm not talking about YOU, I'm talking about The Generally Vague And Slightly Intimidating Everyone Who Knows Better Than You Do. SIGH.)

Is there any one product (or even a Parenting Philosophy!) you so fully bought into that it's actually surprising when you realize there are alternatives? I can't be the only sheep, right?